Most of us have been in a situation when we got impatient and then wished we had paused long enough to look at the entire situation. Here is an example of how patience can help you.
Your boss tells you he wants you to work with another co-worker on a project and it needs to be finished by the end of the week. However, he still expects you to finish your daily work. He thinks this can be accomplished because you and another co-worker successfully completed an unexpected project last month.
This project is different. You do not get along with the co-worker he assigned to work with you and you had more time to work on the last project. So, you get busy working with the other co-worker and you find out she does not know anything about how to help out – so everything is pretty much left to you to figure out. Your first thought is, “I can’t believe this. She should know something about this project.” But you soon realize she does not know how to help you because she works in a different department and is not familiar with the steps. But she is willing to learn and is the best worker in her department.
Do you get frustrated? Lose your patience with your co-worker and the boss? Instead of losing your patience, focus on the overall, big picture. Your boss will be pleased. Your co-worker will learn something new and you will be recognized for your efforts. Also, your boss must trust and respect your skills or else he would not keep coming to you to complete emergency projects. Figure out what your co-worker can do to help you and go from there. Figure out the best way to work together and get the project done. Six months later when it’s time for a raise, you may be rewarded.
The lesson learned is to look at the bigger picture, look at the future instead of the present and look at things from a different perspective to understand where someone else is coming from. All of these things are what make patience possible. Impatience focuses on self, the present, and everything wrong with the situation. It also focuses on making hurried and unwise decisions to get something, anything done. Patience makes intelligent decisions to bring about the best outcome. It is persistent and does not get frustrated.